Hansi Flick has said Barcelona want to play for the club’s first-team doctor Carles Minarro following his death at the weekend.
Shortly before the scheduled kick-off for Saturday’s LaLiga contest against Osasuna, Barca announced Minarro had died that afternoon and that the game had been postponed as a result.
Barca president Joan Laporta paid tribute to Minarro, and a minute’s silence was held in his memory at training on Sunday.
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There was also a minute of silence prior to Flick’s press conference on Monday ahead of the team hosting Benfica in their Champions League last-16 second leg, and the Barca boss said: “It’s a huge loss.
“Carles was a really great person, but also a great doctor. We will miss him. I think he will support us from above, and the team, we want to play for him.
“Now in this situation it’s very important we win, and this is the focus, what we want to do tomorrow.”
Barcelona lead the tie 1-0 after last Wednesday’s first leg in Portugal, in which Raphinha scored just past the hour mark.
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Flick said in quotes on Barca’s official website: “We have to be 100 per cent focused and the best thing is not to think about the first leg.
“Nobody is taking it for granted that we are through to the quarter-finals. We have to win.
“(Benfica) are a great side with a great coach and they have played really well away from home.
“We have to pressure more against Benfica and defend well. In Lisbon we saw how they can counter and we have to be careful. We have to be focused and have the right attitude to get the win.
“The players are doing fantastically well, they are in a good run at the moment and we are confident – we have to maintain that for this game.”
The Catalan outfit – currently top of LaLiga, ahead of second-placed Real Madrid on goal difference and third-placed Atletico Madrid by a point having played a game fewer than both – are unbeaten in 16 matches in all competitions since the turn of the year.
Bruno Lage’s Benfica are second in the Portuguese top flight, three points behind leaders Sporting Lisbon with a game in hand. The first leg result was their only defeat in their last 10 outings.
